1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sporting equipment generally, and specifically to ball or other sports object retrieval systems for tennis and other sports employing a racquet, stick, bat and other like playing equipment for striking a ball or other sports object, wherein a guard is applied to the playing equipment with a replaceable adhesive segment for ball retrieval.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During the long history of sports employing equipment to strike a ball or other sports object, such as tennis employing a racquet or other sports employing a club, bat, stick or other ball striking means, players have been forced to bend or crouch to recover the ball after play. This task is particularly strenuous to elderly and handicapped players, who are well represented in these sports. Thus the desire for a ball retrieval device to free the player from frequent, repetitive bending, crouching and stooping has long been recognized by players of these sports.
Another problem with sports employing equipment to strike balls or other sports objects, such as shuttlecocks or pucks, is that the ball striking equipment often strikes other surfaces and become damaged or scraped detracting from its appearance or operation.
Often in an attempt at ball retrieval the ball striking equipment will be scraped on the ground. This is especially true in tennis, where the racquet is often used as a scoop to scoop up a ball, and simultaneously scrape the ground.
The number and diversity of devices spawned in the attempt to fulfill this need demonstrate both the long felt need for a solution, and the nonobviousness of the solution presented by the subject invention. Note for example, some of the devices designed to recover tennis balls: U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,666, April, 1975 Ross; U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,393, May, 1989 Feldi; U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,156, October, 1977 Bai; U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,328, October, 1995 Dubose; U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,806, January, 1977 Malik; U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,436, September, 1978 Bjorhn; U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,081, March, 1986 Cavanagh; U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,089, February, 1986 Jenkins; U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,129, August, 1990 Bartasius; U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,421, April, 1990 Vandeveld; U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,366, January, 1990 Bartasius; U.S. Pat. No. D355,232, February, 1995 Hodges; U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,786, October, 1991 Bellettini; U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,327, July, 1980 Schubert; U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,712, February, 1991 Urwin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,068, August, 1977 Nelson; U.S. Pat No. 4,114,881, September, 1978 Norton; U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,185, March, 1991 Bartasius.
None of these inventions provide the most desirable and effective solution. These attempts have been plagued by elaborate and excessively expensive design, intrusion on play, unpleasing, obtrusive and commercially undesirable aesthetics, and ineffectiveness.
Previous fastener systems been designed to retrieve tennis balls with the player""s racquet have major drawbacks. U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,666, April, 1975 Ross, uses a hook material (ex. Velcro) affixed to the end of the tennis racquet. This system does not retrieve tennis balls reliably because a tennis ball""s standard covering, especially when worn, is not effectively adhered by the hook element of a hook and loop fastener system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,393, May, 1989, Feldi, uses a strip of hook material attached to the tennis racquet by its adhesive tape backing and a tennis ball specially covered in loop fastener material. The drawback of this system is that it requires a specially designed tennis ball, increasing expense, decreasing the flexibility of use of the system, and intruding on play by introducing a ball with unusual flight characteristics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,786, October, 1991 Bellettini, adopted a similar strategy, but used an supplementary loop fastener covering over a tennis ball, rather than redesigning the tennis ball with a loop fastener cover. This design intrudes on play by changing the playing characteristics of the ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,185, March, 1991 Bartasius and U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,327, July, 1980 Schubert, use a specially designed tennis racquet with a flat or concave butt containing hook fastener material designed to engage the nappy surface of the tennis ball.
These designs are of doubtful effectiveness because hook material will not securely grasp all tennis balls. The Schubert design is difficult and expensive to implement because it calls for a specially designed racquet, substantially increasing expense and decreasing the players choice of racquets. As an additional limitation, none of the above designs retrieve playing objects other than fresh, nappy tennis balls.
Other devices in the prior art present a variety of problems. U.S. Pat. No. D355,232, February, 1995 Hodges, depicts a cumbersome device, intruding on playing ability. U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,712, February, 1991 Urwin is difficult to apply, requiring careful aim to retrieve the ball. U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,068, August, 1977 Nelson, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,881, September, 1978 Norton, are not racquet based at all, but require an additional, cumbersome and expensive retrieval device. These devices are intended for retrieving numerous balls after a practice session, not for the continuous, effortless retrieval of balls during play.
Still other designs carry elaborateness and expense to an extreme. U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,328, October, 1995 Dubose, and others use a specially designed net to capture tennis balls, creating a significant additional expense. These devices are limited in function to the capture of balls hit into the net only. Other designs employ expensive special netting and duct work or other elaborate devices to return balls to the players. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,806, January, 1977 Malik; U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,436, September, 1978 Bjorhn; U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,081, March, 1986 Cavanagh; U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,089, February, 1986 Jenkins; U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,129, August, 1990 Bartasius; U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,366, January, 1990 Bartasius. These systems are too expensive for most players, do not capture or retrieve all balls played, do not work in sports other than tennis, and therefore do not accomplish the goal of eliminating bending to retrieve struck playing balls.
A number of devices have been designed to retrieve golf balls in play. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,145, July, 1994 Lee; U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,981, March, 1981 Wilson. These mechanical devises are not club mounted, but are mounted to a rod to retrieve balls from mud, water and other hazardous and difficult to reach areas. The inventions cited are characteristic of the designs for retrieval of golf balls. Not club mounted, they require the player to carry an additional device. Many golf ball retrieval designs are effective, but are designed solely for the retrieval of balls caught in difficult to reach places. These devices do not aim at assisting the player in recovering a ball in play and within reach and to eliminate the need to bend over to retrieve the ball. And they would be impractical and unsuited to this task.
To be useful, a ball retrieval system must be racquet-mounted, effective at grasping the ball, inexpensive, light weight, and must not increase wind resistance to the playing stick during play. Previously attempted solutions have been plagued by elaborate and expensive design, intrusion on play, aesthetic obtrusiveness, and ineffectiveness.
What is needed is a system for using the ball striking equipment as a means for picking up the ball during play without bending and without damaging the ball striking equipment, while maintaining the normal playability of the ball and ball striking equipment.
An object of the present invention is to allow the player to retrieve the tennis ball, racquet ball, or other racquet, stick or bat based sport playing object (ball) by touching and lifting the ball with the racquet, club, bat or other ball striking equipment, relieving the player of the need to bend, stoop or crouch to retrieve the ball.
A further object of the present invention is to cover and guard the portion of the playing equipment normally scraped or banged during play or ball retrieval.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for easily and frequently replacing the adhesive ball retrieving surface used in the invention to maintain its usefulness.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a system for retrieving balls that is effective with the existing type of ball used in the sport.
One more object of the present invention is to provide a system for ball retrieval and protection of the ball striking equipment
In brief, the present invention uses a strip of tape having a tacky, strongly adhesive exterior surface attached to ball striking equipment, such as on a racquet frame and/or strings, by two sided adhesive tape, adhesive hook and loop (Velcro type) fastener, adhesive glue, or other adhesive system. The strip of tape or adhesive hook and loop fastener or other adhesive means not only serves to pick up the ball, but also serves to cover a normally scraped and banged portion of the ball striking equipment and protect its surface from damage.
Its strong, tacky adhesive surface reliably and consistently grasps balls of all types, including tennis balls, whether new or worn. Easy and inexpensive replacement of the adhesive strip enables the strip to be replaced whenever necessary to maintain its effectiveness.
In the tennis application the adhesive system of the present invention is attached to the exterior of the racquet frame and/or the strings. The player touches the tape to the ball and lifts. A similar application retrieves racquetball and squash balls. In the golf application, the invention is attached to the topmost tip of the putter shaft. The player turns the putter upside down and touches the tape to the ball, and lifts. Similar applications can be made in other racquet, club, bat and stick based sports.
An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a simple, economical, effective and reliable system for ball retrieval and ball striking equipment protection.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it has a broad scope of application and can be applied to any ball striking sports equipment with no need for other special equipment.
An additional advantage of the present invention is that it is always available for use since it is applied to the ball striking equipment which is in the hands of the user.
One more advantage of the present invention is that it is unobtrusive, fits snugly to the equipment, and does not interfere with normal play.
A further advantage of the present invention is that it makes possible the retrieval of playing objects without the need to bend, stoop or crouch, and be particularly useful and popular among older, handicapped and less flexible players, and players who have back problems. The device will thus make sports possible for many who otherwise would be unable to play.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that it is applicable to a number of sports, and is especially useful in tennis and racquetball and squash where balls must be retrieved from the ground, court or deck frequently and repeatedly. Golfers will also appreciate the ability of the device to retrieve golf balls from the hole or green after play.
The present invention constitutes a new use of adhesive tape, adhesive cloth, and/or adhesive hook and loop (Velcro type) fastener tape or cloth. And the use of tacky adhesive tape constitutes a new method for ball retrieval. No prior-art device has used a tacky adhesive strip attached to the racquet or other ball striking equipment to grasp and retrieve a ball or other playing object, as well as to protect the ball striking equipment. Fastener tape has not been used with tacky adhesive to pick up a standard covered tennis ball or other ball or playing object on a standard playing court or field, with standard ball striking equipment.
No previously attempted solution has offered as simple, elegant, economical, portable, practical and effective a solution as the present invention.